Indo-European Lexicon
PIE Etymon and IE Reflexes
Below we display: a Proto-Indo-European (PIE) etymon adapted from Pokorny, with our own English gloss; our Semantic Field assignment(s) for the etymon, linked to information about the field(s); an optional Comment; and Reflexes (derived words) in various Indo-European languages, organized by family/group in west-to-east order where Germanic is split into West/North/East families and English, our language of primary emphasis, is artificially separated from West Germanic. IE Reflexes appear most often as single words with any optional letter(s) enclosed in parentheses; but alternative full spellings are separated by '/' and "principal parts" appear in a standard order (e.g. masculine, feminine, and neuter forms) separated by commas.
Reflexes are annotated with: Part-of-Speech and/or other Grammatical feature(s); a short Gloss which, especially for modern English reflexes, may be confined to the oldest sense; and some Source citation(s) with 'LRC' always understood as editor. Keys to PoS/Gram feature abbreviations and Source codes appear below the reflexes; at the end are links to the previous/next etyma [in Pokorny's alphabetic order] that have reflexes.
All reflex pages are currently under active construction; as time goes on, corrections may be made and/or more etyma & reflexes may be added.
Pokorny Etymon: 1. bhel-, Balto-Slavic also bhelə- 'glittering white'
Semantic Field(s): to Shine, Glisten, White
Indo-European Reflexes:
| Family/Language | Reflex(es) | PoS/Gram. | Gloss | Source(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| English | ||||
| Old English: | bǣl | n.neut | flame, pyre | GED/IEW |
| pōl | n.masc | pool | ASD/IEW | |
| pyll | n.masc | pill | ASD/IEW | |
| Middle English: | balled, balde, belde | adj | bald | CDC/IEW |
| pool | n | pool | W7 | |
| English: | bald | adj | bare, shorn, lacking hair/feathers | IEW |
| beluga | n | cetacean | AHD/W7 | |
| effulgent | adj | re: brilliance, radiant splendor | AHD/W7 | |
| foudroyant | adj | awesome, dazzling, thundering, overwhelming | AHD/W7 | |
| pill | n.dial | pool, (small tidal) creek | IEW/OED | |
| pool | n | small deep body of water | IEW | |
| refulgent | adj | resplendent, shining radiantly | AHD | |
| West Germanic | ||||
| Old High German: | pelihha | n.str.fem | bald coot | GED/IEW |
| pfuol | n | pool | IEW | |
| Middle High German: | belche | n.str.fem | bald coot | GED |
| German: | Beluga | n.masc | beluga | LRC |
| North Germanic | ||||
| Old Norse: | bál | n.neut | fire, flame | LRC |
| Old Icelandic: | bāl | n.neut | fire, flame | GED/IEW |
| blesi | prop.n.masc | Blesi (nickname) | GED | |
| Danish: | bældet | adj | bald | IEW |
| East Germanic | ||||
| Gothic: | *bala- | adj | gray, shining | GED/IEW |
| Italic | ||||
| Latin: | fulica | n.fem | bald coot | GED/IEW |
| French: | foudroyant | adj | foudroyant, lightning-like | W7 |
| Baltic | ||||
| Lithuanian: | balà | n.masc | marsh | GED/IEW |
| bãlas, báltas | adj | white | RPN | |
| bálti | vb | to be white, become pale | GED/IEW | |
| Latvian: | balināt, balinu, balināju | vb | to bleach | LRC |
| balti | adv | white | LRC | |
| balts | adj | white | LRC | |
| Slavic | ||||
| Old Church Slavonic: | bělъ | adj | white | GED/IEW |
| Russian: | beluga, bieluga | n | beluga; sturgeon, white fish | CDC/W7 |
| belyĭ, bieluiĭ | adj | white | CDC/W7 | |
| Albanian | ||||
| Albanian: | ballë | n | forehead | GED/IEW |
| Hellenic | ||||
| Hesychius' Greek Lexicon: | φαληρός | adj | shining | GED/IEW |
| φαλ(ι)ός | adj | shining | GED/IEW | |
| Greek: | phainein | vb | to show | W7 |
| φαλός | adj | white, shining | RPN | |
| Indic | ||||
| Sanskrit: | bhā́lam | n.neut | forehead; splendor, radiance | GED/IEW |
Key to Part-of-Speech/Grammatical feature abbreviations:
| Abbrev. | Meaning | |
|---|---|---|
| adj | = | adjective |
| adv | = | adverb(ial) |
| dial | = | dialectal |
| fem | = | feminine (gender) |
| masc | = | masculine (gender) |
| n | = | noun |
| neut | = | neuter (gender) |
| prop | = | proper |
| str | = | strong (inflection) |
| vb | = | verb |
Key to information Source codes (always with 'LRC' as editor):
| Code | Citation | |
|---|---|---|
| AHD | = | Calvert Watkins: The American Heritage Dictionary of Indo-European Roots, 2nd ed. (2000) |
| ASD | = | Joseph Bosworth and T. Northcote Toller: An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary (1898) |
| CDC | = | W.D. Whitney and B.E. Smith: The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia (1889-1911) |
| GED | = | Winfred P. Lehmann: A Gothic Etymological Dictionary (1986) |
| IEW | = | Julius Pokorny: Indogermanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch (1959) |
| LRC | = | Linguistics Research Center, University of Texas, Austin |
| OED | = | James A.H. Murray et al: The Oxford English Dictionary (1933) |
| RPN | = | Allan R. Bomhard: Reconstructing Proto-Nostratic (2002) |
| W7 | = | Webster's Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary (1963) |
